The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The
launch went well. Eighty-one seconds into its flight, the wing of Columbia was struck by a piece of insulation falling off of the external fuel
tank. Columbia was damaged on the front edge of the left wing. No one
on the shuttle or the ground knew how bad the damage was.

On February 1, 2003, Columbia re-entered Earth's atmosphere on
its way to
a landing in Florida. Upon re-entry, very hot gas entered the damaged wing.
Columbia's wing began to melt and break apart. Soon the whole shuttle
started to break apart. Pieces of the shuttle were found from California to
Louisiana. All of the astronauts on board Columbia were killed.